Process of galvanizing sheet metal



@No Model.) f) S. A.. SAGUE.

lPROCESS 0F GALVANIZING SHEET METAL.

l a x Patented sept. 19,. 1893.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. l

SAMUEL A. SAGUE, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

PRocEss oF GALvANlz-ING SHEET METAL.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 505,131, dated September 19, 18.93. Application filed April 21, 1892. Serial No. 430.044. (N o specimens.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL A. SAGUE, of Cleveland, in the county ofOuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Galvanizing Sheet Metal; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improved process of so-called galvanizingsheet iron and steel, the object being to facilitatethe manufacture of such iron and steel, and to make a betterarticle at much less cost, than was possible by the process heretofore employed.

In order to enable others to more fully understand the value and importance of my invention, it is considered necessary to briey describe theprocess at present and hereto-` fore in vogue, and to call attention to the objectionable features of said process.

The sheets or plates of iron or steel, as received from the rolling-mills, are first immersed in what is called a pickling bath, that is composed of sulphurc acid, the pickling bath being heated in any suitable manner. The object of thus pickling the sheets or plates is to clean the same, that is, to remove scales and dirt that may be adhering to the surface of the sheets or plates. The action of the sulphuric acid however, produces a spongy and irregular surface, the original smooth surface of the sheets being destroyed. The sheets or plates are then washed in a tank of water; thence taken and laid upon a table and scraped by hand, the workmen, by means of hand-Scrapers, removing dirt and scales still adherng'to the sheets or plates and that can be thus removed. The work last referred to is not only necessarily slow and laborious, but it is almost impossible to thus satisfactorily remove all impurities and foreign substances from the surfaces of the sheets.

The next succeeding step of the process, is to prepare the surface of the sheets or plates for the zinc-coating, by immersing the sheets or plates in a tank supplied with muriatic acid, resulting in the formation of a linx upon the surface of the sheets or plates to enable the zinc or spelter to adhere. thereto more closely and serving also to still further and more thoroughly clean the sheets or plates. I would here remark that the sheets or plates undergoing treatment, must be thoroughly cleaned preparatory to their immersion in the zinc or spelter bath. From the inuriatic-acid bath the sheets or plates are loaded on an iron car and conveyedV to a kiln where the sheets or plates are thoroughly dried. When dried the sheets or plates are ready for the zinc or spelter bath. This loading and unloadingof the sheets or plates and their transportation to and from the kiln also requires much labor and time. The sheets or plates are next, with a longitudinal edge lowermost, and in batches, immersed or dipped, in the zinc or spelter bath. A tank (or pot, as it is technically called) is lilled with melted spelter orzinc, which is kept liquid by coke-lires constantly burning around the tank or pot, the zinc or spelter bath being protected in any suitable manner to prevent oxidation of the molten metal, and sal-ammoniac o'r a suitable tlux being employed to give the coated sheet or plate a brighter appearance. Workmen handle the sheets or plates by means of tongs, and the sheets or plates `are withdrawn or hoisted from the bath by said means and a suitable hoisting apparatus.

The step in the process, of coating the sheets or plates with zinc, as just described, is not only objectionable in that it is exceedingly slow andlaborious but the sheets or plates are necessarily not coated with uniformity. Some sheets or plates will remain in the bath longer than others, and consequently the coating of the different sheets or plates of abath will vary in thickness. Then again, in withdrawing thesheets or plates from the bath, it is impossible, by the means just described, to Withdraw them at a uniform speed, and the sheets or plates are very liable to be jerked. This irregularity in the withdrawal of the sheets or plates from the bath causes the spelter to adhere to the sheets or plates unevenly and in patches, thus causing a waste of zinc or spelter which is the more costly metal. Also, by reasonof the sheets or plates being placed in the tank lengthwise on their edges, in withdrawing the same from the bath the molten metal coat ing of the sheets or plates will necessarily IOC more or less gravitate to the lowermost longitudinal edges of the sheets or plates, resulting in an increase in thickness in the coating along these edges, which is objectionable. 5 The sheets or plates, having thus been coated with zinc or spelter, they are wiped, by hand, usually by means of canvas, the workmen brushing or scraping off any surplus matter adhering to the surface of the sheets or plates, also requiring much labor and time. 'Ihe sheets or plates are next, and lastly, run singly through calendering-rolls, for the purpose of straightening and smoothing them and to put them in proper condition for ship-I ment.

To overcome the objectionable features of the laborious and consequently costly process of so-called galvanizing sheet iron and steel, heretofore and still employed, I have devised the process hereinafter described and pointed out in the claims.

Suitable apparatus for carrying out my improved process is exhibited in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Figure 1 is a plan and Fig. 2 is a side-elevation of said apparatus.

I pickle the sheet or plat-e of iron or steel as heretofore and take the same from the pickling-bath and place the same upon a table, A, at one end of the apparatus. From table A the sheet or plate is fed to cold rolls, B,located in the requiredproximity to the de livering-end of table Aand being of any suitable construction. Table A, declines somewhat toward rolls B, as shown, to facilitate the feeding of the sheet or plate to said rolls, water being preferably conducted and discharged upon, (by means of perforated pipe W or in any suitable manner) and caused to flow over the periphery of said rolls, thereby keeping the rolls clean by washing away any dirt or foreign substances that may lodge upon or adhere to the peripheral surface of the rolls. The effect ot' powerful cold-rolling under water, after pickling the sheet or plate, is of Vast importance, not only entirely removing the irregularities in the surfaces of the sheet or plate, which irregularities are the resultI of the action of the pickling acid, but rendering the surfaces of the sheet or plate beautifully smooth and crushing and washing away all impurities and foreign substances. Rolls B deliver the sheet or plate to the mnriatic acid coating vat, C, the acid being represented by broken lines in Fig. 2. At the receiving end and extending transversely of vat C are located a pair of suitable rolls, C', adapted to receive the sheet or plate from rolls B, and the sides of vat C afford bearing for the trunnions of a series of guiderolls and pairs of guide-rolls, C2, and at the delivering-end of vat Ckr are located suitable wringer or wiper-rolls, C8, the trunnions of rolls C and Cs having bearing in suitable boxes provided at the sides of vat C. The sheet or plate of ironorsteelis thus fed endwise through the muriatic acid bath between the upper and lower guide-rolls C to wringer or wiper-rolls C3, whence the sheet or plate is fed between rolls D to and through the drying-chamber D2 of a furnace D, wiper or wringer-rolls C3 removing any surplus acid preparatory to the drying of the sheet or plate. f A pair of rolls, D3, substantially the same as rolls D', is provided at the opposite or delivering-end of the dryingchamber ofthe furnace, the trunnions of rolls D D3 having suitable bearing in brackets D* secured in any suitable manner, forinstance, to the brick casing of the furnace, the drying-chamber of the furnace being open, at either end, as at d d for the reception and delivery of the sheet or plate. From the dryingchamber of the furnace thesheet or plate passes between rolls D3 to and between guiderolls E (that are supportedv in any suitable manner) and is thence conducted through a suitable flux in box F into and through the zinc or spelter in the so-called galvanizing pot G, the sheet or plate being guided in its passage through the zinc or spelter bath by a pair of suitably curved and parallel open frames II, frame H being located a suitable distance apart to permit the easy passage of the sheet or plate without interfering with the zinc or spelter coating of the sheet or plate, frames H comprising preferably longitudinal bars H and transverse bars Il2 connecting said longitudinal bars, frames II being connected for instance at theirlongitudinal ends, and the longitudinal bars. of the lower frame being extended and secured, for instance, to the top of the wall of furnace I below, employed for maintaining, in fusion, the zinc or spelter in pot G. Freni the zinc or spelter bath the sheet or plate is passed between rolls J onto endless chains K that lead over polygonal rollers K', endlesschains K being adapted to convey and deliver the sheet to brushing machine L where the sheet or plate is brushed clean, and from the brushing machine the sheet or plate is fed to calendering-rolls, M, that are adapted to smooth and finish the sheet or plate, and deliver' the same -in proper condition for shipment. Receiving-rolls C', wiper or wrnger-rolls C3, rolls D and D3 at the respective ends of the drying-chamber of furnace D, guide-rolls E and J, endless chains K and the brushing machine are, of course, all operatively con nected with each other in any suitable manner, or so co-operate, that the sheet or plate, without interruption, isvfed from one end of the apparatus to the other. 'lhe process of so-called galvanizingthe sheet or plate of iron or steel is therefore continuous and it will be observed that the sheet or plate is carried through the apparatus endwise with the two longitudinal edges of the sheet 0r plate in the same elevated plane relative to each other.

In addition to the advantages of my improved process, already indicatcd, and aside from the facility and dispatch with which the work can be effected, may be mentioned, that,

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no handling of the sheet or plate being required in its passage from the muriatic acid bath to the zinc or spelter bath, it follows that the sheet or plate reaches the zinc or spelter bath' in a first class condition to receive its proper coating of zinc or spelter;

each sheet or plate is passed through the bath of zinc or spelter at the same speed,conse quently the thickness of the coating of zinc or spelter on each sheet or plate is absolutely uniform throughout, resulting in a bright and well-Spangled sheet ot' the highest standard of quality, and avoiding any Waste of zinc or spelter.

A feature of my improved process, to which I would again call attention, is the passing of the` sheet or. plate endwise to, through and from the zinc or spelter bath with the longif tudinal edges of ythe sheet or plate at the same elevation relative to each other, whereby the objectionable increase in the thickness o the coating '0f the `zinc or spelter at one edge of 'll the surface of the sheet `or plate, lengthwise thereof, that is along its greatest dimension, is entirely avoided, but ifthere is any slight variation in the thickness of the coating by my improved process, it must necessarily be at the transverse edge of the sheet or plate last leaving the zinc or spelter bath, where, owing to the small dimension of the sheet or `plate in width relative to the dimension of its length, it (any slight increase in thickness at the transverse edge indicated) would be comparatively insignificant.

What I claim is- 1. Theprocess herein described of s0-called galvanizing sheet iron and steel, and consisting, first, in pickling the sheet or plate; secondly, cold rolling the sheet or plate; thirdly, bathing the sheet or plate in or passing it through muriatic acid; fourthlydry ing the sheet or plate; fthly, passingV the sheet or plate endwise through a zinc or spelter bath; sixthly, brushing the sheet or plate, and seventhly, calendering or smoothing the sheet or plate, substantially as set forth.

2. The process herein described of so-called galvanizing sheet iron vand steel, and consisting, first, in pickling, the sheet or plate; secondly, cold rolling the sheetor plate; thirdly, passing the sheet or plate endwise and between rolls through a muriatic acid bath; fourthly, drying the -sheet or plate; iifthly, passing the sheet or plate endwise through a zinc or spelter bath; sixthly, brushing the sheet or plate, dering or smoothing the sheet or plate, substantially as and for-the purpose set forth.

3. A continuous process of so-called galvaniing sheet ironand steel and consisting after pickling the original smooth surface of the sheet or plate, first, in passing the sheet or plate between cold rolls; thence passing the sheet' or plate between rolls throughV a muriatic acid bath; thence passing the sheet into and through a drying-chamber; thence .5S and seventhly, calenpassing the sheet or plate through a suitable ux into a zinc or spelter bath; thence con-l veying a sheet or plate through a brushingmachine to vand between calenderingv and smoothing rolls, substantially as set forth.

'4. A continuous process of so-called gal- Vanizing sheet iron or steel andconsistiug after pickliug the original smooth surface of the sheet or plate, first, in passing the sheet or plate between cold rolls; thence, passing the sheet or plate, between rolls through a: muriatic acid bath; thence passing the sheet between wiper or wringer rolls into and through a drying-chamber; thence passing the sheet or plate through a suitable flux into and through a zinc or spelter-bath; thence conveying the sheet or plate througha brushing machine and to and between calenderiug or smoothing-rolls, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereofI sign this specification, inthe presence ot two witnesses, this 29th day of February, 1892.

SAMUEL A. SAGUE. Witnesses:

C. H. DORER, Y WARD HOOVER. 

